Kai Havertz was injured right in the opening match of this season in August 2025, the match Arsenal won 1-0 at Old Trafford of Man United. After that, he was re-listed to play in the match against Aston Villa on December 30, 2025.
Including that match and the next 4 matches in all competitions, Kai Havertz has not played a single minute in the Premier League and Champions League. The German striker only appeared in the domestic cup arena: 21 minutes in the victory over Portsmouth in the 3rd round of the FA Cup and 8 minutes in the victory in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
Arsenal are cautious in bringing Kai Havertz back to play because they fear he will relapse from injury, possibly losing the 2026 World Cup. The reason is that Havertz is recovering from 2 injuries at the same time.
In the past 2 years, Havertz's injury situation has been very complicated. He suffered a serious hamstring injury in February 2025 and has to be sidelined for the rest of the 2024-2025 season. Therefore, he has only made 5 appearances in the Premier League in the past 12 months. Arsenal is aware of this, but they are also afraid that when returning to 100% fitness, Havertz will not be able to keep up with the intensity of the final leg.
Hevertz is getting closer to his official return date. He has been out of action for a very long time, nearly 1 year for various reasons. We have to be very skillful in choosing the schedule for Havertz.
He will definitely be on the field in the next few weeks, I can't be sure which arena it will be because it depends on the competition context at that time" - Mikel Arteta shared.
Arsenal currently has 2 center forwards, Viktor Gyokeres (body strength) and Gabriel Jesus (engineering). Kai Havertz is a combination of both teammates, so Arteta really needs him to diversify his playing style in the upcoming blockbuster matches.
Debuting at Bayer Leverkusen in 2016, but since then until February 2025, Havertz seems to have not suffered any serious injuries. Currently, he is both being treated for a hamstring injury and waiting for his knee to recover after surgery, which caused him to be sidelined from August 2025.
During that process, Arsenal tried to bring Havertz gradually back to the field but failed continuously. In the match against Aston Villa on December 30, Havertz was on the bench but only 4 days later, in the match against Bournemouth, he was not even on the registered squad. Arsenal were impatient to bring the 26-year-old star back but they could not do it in the most complete way.
For the next 6-8 weeks, we are forced to maintain and manage the intensity of players' appearances well. From there, the team can gradually increase the intensity. When major matches are about to take place in the final stage of the season, we must ensure that all players have the best spirit and physical condition" - Arteta shared.
The fact that Havertz could not start from the first rounds of the season forced newcomer Viktor Gyokeres to start continuously, thereby leading to the Swedish star being somewhat overwhelmed, not having enough time to get used to the new environment. At that time, Gabriel Jesus was still injured, so Arteta was sometimes very stuck in personnel adjustments.
Both Gyokeres and Jesus have not really met expectations, so Gooners are hoping Havertz can return soon. The fact that Jesus and Gyokeres both scored against Inter in the middle of the week only reduces the urgency in needing Havertz and cannot completely cover up the need to have the German star in the remaining time with Arsenal.
On Havertz's side, this is a year with the World Cup and he needs to have a starting spot in the German national team this summer. When the World Cup ends, Havertz's contract with Arsenal will expire in 2 years, a time when clubs often consider whether to keep players or not. How Havertz returns at the end of this season and his performance at the 2026 World Cup will greatly determine Arsenal's choice.
